Adventures Running a B & B

Nothing better than a good soak in a hot bath and our guest love our slipper bathtub.  Actually, Linda tried to talk me into putting in a shower instead but I wanted an old style tub with claw foot legs.  When we don't have guests, she loves to soak in it herself.

However; it brought us a little excitement the other night.  We had guests in both our upstairs rooms, it was rather late.   The husband of one couple had never stayed at a B & B before; his wife remarked that she was 'dragging' him away for a much needed get-a-way weekend.  

Linda and I were in bed almost asleep when we both heard RAIN.  The problem was that it sounded like it was IN the house, not outside.  I got up and turned on our bathroom lights and found water was running down the walls and through the suspended ceiling.  I grabbed a chair and lifted a ceiling panel and found the water wasn't leaking from any of the pipes; it was coming through the upstairs floor. 

I ran upstairs and found the guest bathroom door locked and water was running from under the door.  I knocked and got a weak reply.  A guest was taking a bath and it sounded like he was very relaxed.  I told him I needed in, that we had a bad water leak.  

I ran downstairs to grab some towels and came back up just as the door opened.  Wouldn't you know it, it was the 'new-be.'  He was dripping wet and wrapped in a towel.  I followed the 'stream' that had luckily subsided to the overflow tube on our old style tub.  Somehow, the overflow gasket had slipped out allowing water to spill on the floor.  The tub was very FULL; it was probably the first time the overflow had been tested! 

I pointed out the problem and asked the guest to watch the water level and that the drain would work fine.  I apologized for disrupting his bath.  He was very understanding and apologized for not seeing what was happening himself.  He said he loved to soak in a tub.  I towelled up the water and left.  He continued his bath. 

By then, Linda had wiped down the walls and floor in our bathroom.  Amazingly, we didn't have any water damage, we caught it in time.  I crawled back into bed and told her what I found; a leaking overflow and our 'new-be' guest dripping wet.  She got the giggles and said she was glad I was home. 

No harm, no foul; another adventure running our B & B.

Flowers For Mother

What a wonderful and colorful spring; we thought we would share some of our flower photos on Mother's Day. 

Our spring this year was about 3 weeks early and quite warm.  Everything seemed to bloom at once, even the trees.  We had the highest pollen counts on record this year; simply off the chart.  The flowers this year were unbelievable.  Last fall we planted 100 daffodils and they really added a splash of color to the yard.  We're looking forward to them multiplying.

Fish Pond at Oft's Bed & Breakfast

Unfortunately, we didn't take photographs of all our blossoms but we did take a few.  The tulips were beautiful.  We have a small bed of black tulips that bloomed later but I didn't take a photo of them this year.  We also added 5 new bulbs; the "Wild Buffet" bulbs we got from our guests from Holland.  We're anxious to see what they look like new spring.  They told us the flowers have double petals, whatever that means?

Great grandma's old rose is now blooming and its gorgeous.  We don't know how old the plant is but we have an old photos taken in the 1930's showing it.   It is at least 80 years old and possibly more.   

Great Grandma Rosa's Rose

Our white and blue irises are nearly bloomed out but CoeLeta gave us some roots of her yellow iris which we planted last fall.  What a great addition and its in full bloom now.  What a bright and vivid yellow!  

Happy Mother's Day!

Hosting Foreign Celebrities!

The fun of running a bed & breakfast is meeting new and interesting people.  This week is busy with Berkshire Week; Berkshire Hathaway Inc's annual meeting.  We were booked a year ago and little did we know we would have celebrities in our home, two Dutch freelance journalists; Marlies Ruijter and Audrey Zonneveld.  We received an e-mail from Audrey last week asked us to pick up a copy of Wednesday's Omaha World-Herald for her.  We did and found in the Money Section, both ladies were featured in Steve Jordon's article "Tulips, anyone?  Side events often compete for attention."  

The lady journalists will be presenting Mr. Buffet a new tulip named "The Warren Buffett, a.k.a. The Wild Warren.  The tulip is available from Ruijter Flower Bulbs Inc. farm in northern Holland and are for sale.
  

Conversation around the breakfast table should be interesting this weekend!